WTTC organizes historic Recovery & Leadership Cruise along Egypt’s Suez Canal | News
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is organizing a unique Leadership Cruise on Egypt’s Suez Canal, one of the world’s most remarkable symbols of global trade.
The WTTC Leadership Cruise is attended by more than 300 leaders from the public and private sectors and is supported by the Egyptian government, with sponsors including the Antonio Lefebvre Foundation, Visit Egypt, Crystal Cruises, Coral Travel Group and luxury tour specialist Abercrombie & Kent.
Gloria Guevara, President and CEO of WTTC, said: “Egypt itself is a great example of resilience in the travel and tourism sector. President El-Sisi is a leader who has championed growth in the sector, with Egypt seeing a contribution of US$34.4 billion by 2025, as well as an impressive 19 million visitors entering the country.
“The Suez Canal could not be a more appropriate location for the WTTC Leadership Cruise, as we bring together public and private sector leaders from around the world to work together to drive global recovery.
“WTTC also thanks the Egyptian Minister of Tourism and the Minister of Planning and Economic Development for their own important contributions to Egyptian growth and this historic event.”
It is a sign of Egypt’s unparalleled diversity that tourism revenues have increased significantly, from US$4.9 billion in 2020/1 to over US$18 billion by 2025.
With more than 2,000 km of sandy beaches, Egypt has embarked on an impressive expansion of its tourism infrastructure, with the aim of doubling the number of available hotel rooms from 240,000 today and doubling aviation capacity at its 27 airports. Investments are also being made in high-speed rail infrastructure.
The Egyptian capital Cairo recently opened the impressive Grand Egyptian Museum, which brings together more than 100,000 artefacts, 20,000 of which are on display for the first time. Throughout Egypt there are more than 200 museums and archaeological sites, and seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Manfredi Lefebvre, Chairman of WTTC, added: “It is an honor to host the first ever WTTC Leadership Cruise on board the beautiful Crystal Serenity. More than 300 leaders from our industry have gathered to experience the best of Egypt, alongside positive and constructive discussions on the resilience and recovery taking place in the travel and tourism sector.”
The Leadership Cruise will include sessions on the growth of Egyptian tourism and hear from ministers and CEOs on their plans for expanding travel and tourism offerings in their own destinations and businesses.
According to the latest data from WTTC, travel and tourism contributed $11.6 trillion to global GDP in 2025 (9.8% of the global economy) and supported 366 million jobs – one in nine worldwide.
